Chinatown photo post

Just some photos to update on Chinatown station.

20 January 2013: Platform A is the Bukit Panjang
bound platform for DTL

25 June 2013: Pretty view inside the tunnel from
platform B of Chinatown station

25 June 2013

1 September 2013: What it will look like come December

30 September 2013: Please board at Platform A.
So Platform B is unlikely to be used for boarding. I think
it makes sense as commuters will not be confused when
DTL3 opens and the direction of trains departing changes

14 October 2013: Train set 004 at Platform A.
Platform A has a red wall concept as opposed to
Platform B which is grey.

30 October 2013: A closer look at the boarding information.

30 October 2013: More testing underway at the NEL concourse.

30 October 2013: Cross displaying information at the NEL concourse.

DTL3 October update

In this post, we bring you up to date on the goings on of construction on Downtown Line stage 3 for the month of October.

Firstly, a listing of the TBM shields that we have.

C923 - S-761
C923A - TBM1 (Argo) & TBM2 (Hermes)
C925 - TBM1
C926 - TBM1 (Chloe), TBM2 (Beatrix), TBM3 (Hayley) & TBM4 (Lizzi)
C927 - TBM1 (Tierra) & TBM2 (Kaida)
C928 - TBM1
C929A - S-685 (Harmonica), S-686, S-693 (Jupiter) & TBM4
C930 - TBM1 (Gaia) & TBM2
C931 - S-737 (Jet)
C932 - TBM1 (Xena) & TBM2 (Gabrielle)
C933 - S-739 (Whampoa), S-740 (Bendemeer), S-741 & S-742
C935 - S-759 & TBM2
C937 - TBM1, TBM2 & TBM3

Green - completed
Orange - tunneling in progress
Aqua - launching soon

So here's an update on some of the TBM tunneling progress. We don't have all the progress available unfortunately. More details and an easy display will be coming up down the line in November and beyond.

C923A PIE shaft to TPE
TBM1 - Completed
TBM2 -
Total: 1074 rings

C926 Stadium shaft to TPW
TBM1 50+ rings at end August
Total:

C927 BDN to BDR
TBM1 678 rings. TBM2 75 rings.
Total:

C937 FCN to BCL
TBM1 at 105 rings
TBM3 - - - - -
Total:

FCN to CNT
TBM 2 at 54 rings
Total:

 In addition, excavation seems to be progressing pretty well overall.

C922 - Expo station has already reached the base slab level at portions of the station.

C925 - Tampines East station is in the process of constructing the retaining walls. The TBM was lowered within the last month and assembled at the launch shaft ready for the Expo-bound drive to Tampines Central station.

C926 - Tampines West is still in the process of constructing the retaining walls as the Tampines Avenue 4 was only shifted over the completed portion a few months ago.

C928 - Bedok North has excavated most of the soil from the station pit area. They will be progressing onto the structural works soon.

C929 - Kaki Bukit station has the top layer casted and excavation work is progressing below using the top-down method where the permanent structure is cast before moving lower to commence excavation at the preceding level below.

C933 - Bendemeer station has seen some under-platform level work go on. Concrete pouring has also been taking place.

 C935 - Jalan Besar station is also employing the top-down method of construction. Most areas have progressed to level 2 of excavation.

C937 - Fort Canning station is progressing swiftly with the top-down method as well. Excavation continues on.

Do check back for more updates as we begin filling up the individual station pages with photos. Feel free to drop us a line if you have anything to contribute too, via the comments section. Have a great day all!

New display interfaces

With the arrival of Downtown Line 1 this year, the passenger information displays at the interchange stations will be updated. Already in use is the one at Chinatown North East Line station.

New arrival display interface at NEL concourse

A sneak peek at the Downtown Line station reveals a similar display for the DTL. In addition, for the first time since plasma screen displays were used to indicate train arrival timings, cross-display of information will be provided. Previously, the displays only showed information of the respective lines served. With this upgrade, timings for all lines serving the station would be displayed instead.

Screen display for DTL in DTL concourse

Screen display for NEL in DTL concourse. Cross-display of arrival
information will make its way to MRT stations when DTL1 opens in Dec.

This also includes lines operated by other operators. Bugis station was seen testing the same display as well, even though the East West Line is operated by SMRT while Downtown Line is under SBS Transit.

DTL display under test at EWL Bugis station on 20 September 2013
With thanks to deskoh for his submission.

EWL display under test at EWL Bugis station on 20 September 2013
With thanks to deskoh for his submission.

TBM extraction from Queen Street shaft

TBM S-608 by Contract 921 reached the Queen Street reception shaft in September. After about a month of preparation, the TBM is finally ready to be lifted out of the shaft and transported back to the launch shaft at Rochor station to bore the Expo bound tunnel. The process involves lots of machinery on a tight footprint. Just take a look!

A notice posted at the Rochor centre blocks

Part of the crane being used for lowering the TBM at the launch shaft
being delivered to the Rochor station site yesterday (24 Oct 2013)

The tail skin shield at the Queen Street Shaft

The cutterhead at the Queen Street shaft

The front shield at the Queen Street shaft

Overview of the proximity of the shaft to the HDB block

October summary

Okay, so trying something new that hopefully will help.
This monthly update will display the tunnel sheet for the month to summarise what has been going on in terms of tunnel completion.
Additionally, this will function as a summary of any verbal progress. In addition, probably will do up posts so that people can follow when there's an update and the respective contract pages will be updated too.

Downtown Line 2 summary for the month of October 2013

C916 - Beauty World station is back-filling the launch shaft area and left with 2 layers of struts. Strut level S2 is dismantled and just waiting to be hauled out. An Alstom sign was seen on the site and the area has been vacated to be transformed into the Temporary Staging Area for track works. Expect the road diversion at the junction of Upper Bukit Timah Rd and Jalan Jurong Kechil to be reinstated soon in view of the upcoming track works once back-filling is done.

C917 (King Albert Park) - Works have been progressing smoothly since the site take over by Mac Dow. You can now see Mac Dow banners up on the hoarding and the TBMs have been busy churning and making progress.

C917 (Sixth Avenue) - The crawler cranes on site have been raised once again since the site take over. Mac Dow banners now grace the hoarding here as well.

C918 - Works have resumed full swing. C&C area is busy. Near the launch shaft towards SAV, the concrete form works have been seen waiting to be lowered down into the tunnel area for concrete pouring.

C919 (Botanic Gardens) - The roof slab is mostly done, save for the area near to the transfer linkway to the Circle Line station. Removal of struts should begin soon and back-filling begin. Expect station modification works to come up in the Circle Line area shortly.

C921 (Little India) - Hacking of the temporary Earth Retaining System (diaphragm walls) is on going near the new exit at Little India along Race Course Road. Rebar for the vent shaft or new exit near LTA HQ is also underway with concrete pouring due to take place soon. Back-filling over the station roof slab is also underway. A new lift is being constructed at Entrance C to the station. Tracks are assembled along with sleepers at the TSA area under Alstom.

C921 (Rochor) - Breakthrough of the TBM at the Queen Street shaft in September will see the TBM being lifted out for the second drive on the Expo bound soon.

Author update guideline

Hello fellow author,

This is just a guideline to aid posting down the line.
Best to create new paragraphs when you want to update a photo entry. To do so, click on the "HTML" option at the top left corner beside Compose. Key in "< p >" without the spaces to open a new paragraph and switch back to compose to type in what you need. Best to type in and then add in photos after. Key in "< / p >" without the spaces to close off the paragraph. You can also use this to separate text posts from the photos.

Hope this helps.

About DTL

Hi there,

Here's a bit about what's going on nowdays. Downtown Line is Singapore's 5th MRT line and is the third fully automated heavy rail line here. It will span 42km long and have an initial 34 stations. A future station is planned at Hume and another will be added in the vicinity of Bedok Corner by 2025 or so. Stage 1 spanning 4.3km from Bugis to Chinatown will open on 22 December this year. Stage 2 will open in mid-2016 and is in various stages of completion. Some stations like Little India and Beauty World are back-filling the soil removed for construction, while others are working on the station structures. Stage 3 is expected by mid-2017 and most stations are undergoing excavation work.

This blog is a test phase for us, before we roll out the progressive updates for the upcoming Thomson Line. If you have any photos you'd like to contribute or any feedback on the layout and workability of the blog pages, please do drop us a comment so we'll know. Thanks a lot for visiting!

A render of the future station DT4 Hume which is
not built yet, but provisioned for at Hume Avenue

Test post

Hi everyone, The purpose of this blog is to test the layout and workability of this project. We intend to create a blog to capture all the historic moments of the building of this line till it reaches implementation. Hope you'll enjoy. Do feel free to check out the links by the side to see the station progress. Cheers.